WASHINGTON, DC. As the destructive force of Hurricane Katrina is still being manifested in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness has moved to ensure that the needs of homeless persons in the affected areas will be a priority in all present and future stabilization and recovery efforts. Council Executive Director Philip Mangano this week moved to create an internal Council Task Force which includes the Council's Regional Coordinators in the affected areas. "Member agencies of the Council will be making significant investment in the stabilization and recovery efforts in the affected areas," stated Director Mangano. "Our task is to work diligently to communicate with affected areas and ensure that the needs of people experiencing homelessness - both historic and new - are recognized and given priority. We are not only concerned for those who have been homeless but for those, especially renters, who now are at risk of long term homelessness, Our efforts, as always, will be in partnership with federal, state, and local responses, as well as with providers in the field."

The Council's Task Force is led by Region IV Coordinator Michael German, whose regional responsibilities include Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. Mr. German is a 16-year veteran of FEMA disaster relief efforts. At FEMA he managed over twenty major disaster operations in the field. Previously he created and directed the Office of Grants Development for the City of Atlanta under former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson and also served as Deputy Executive Director of the Atlanta Housing Authority, the fourth largest public housing agency in the nation.

Region VI Coordinator Sally Shipman will also be key to the Task Force, with her responsibilities in the states of Louisiana and Texas. Ms. Shipman came to her work at the Council with broad experience in issues facing homeless programs. As a City Council member in Austin, Texas, Ms. Shipman initiated the City's Task Force on Homelessness. She also served as the Executive Director of the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County and chair of the Texas Interagency Council for the Homeless, as well as on the Board of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA. "I'm dedicated to working together so we can build a California where everyone has a place they can call home," stated California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday as he announced the California Initiative to End Long -Term Homelessness, a package of state and private funding targeted to the development of new supportive housing and services and the creation of a State Interagency Council on Homelessness. Governor Schwarzenegger is pictured here greeting residents of the Cabrillo Career Center where he spoke.

According to Governor Schwarzenegger, the goals of the new initiative are to leverage Proposition 46 funds, in conjunction with tax credits and locality funds, to build approximately 400 to 500 new units of permanent housing, support the cost of ongoing services through Proposition 63 funding to ensure these tenants receive the services they require to keep them off the street, and coordinate federal, state, local, non-profit and private sector efforts to combat homelessness. The Initiative creates a multi- agency committee to provide a simple, one-stop approval process for funding requests.

Funds announced by the Governor include: up to $40 million in Proposition 46 funds to leverage private sector resources to produce 400 to 500 new supportive housing units; funding provided under Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act to be used for services and support of ongoing operations at housing communities; $10 million from the California Housing Financing Agency from its Housing Assistance Trust to provide liquidity to community based lending organizations developing housing for the long-term homeless, freeing up capital for greater leveraging for new units; $750,000 in Proposition 63 dollars allocated to the Department of Housing and Community Development to be used for predevelopment costs such as permitting, engineering costs, site development and environmental reports; and $125,000 in State General Fund dollars to fund an inter-agency council comprised of: state and federal agencies and departments; local social service, health, law enforcement and other local agencies; local elected officials; non-governmental providers of services to the homeless; homeless advocates; and the philanthropic community, to coordinate efforts to combat long-term homelessness and maximize the use of resources.

The Governor's announcement follows California becoming the 48th state to partner with the U. S. Interagency Council on Homelessness in the creation of a State Interagency Council on Homelessness and the recent visit of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson announcing HUD's Homeless Assistance Grants. A special emphasis on homeless veterans was part of the initiatives announced by the Governor.

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA. With the recent conclusion of Minnesota's legislative session, Governor Tim Pawlenty and the legislature advanced the state's commitment to the Minnesota Business Plan to End Long Term Homelessness, released in March 2004. The plan calls for the creation of 4,000 supportive housing opportunities by 2010. In the first year of the plan, the state exceeded its goal of financing 200 units and has reached 424 units as of August 24, 2005. New measures reported here target special populations, such as youth and re-entering prisoners, as well as providing support for housing development.

Among the key items adopted which represent new commitments of state resources to the business plan and related initiatives are $12 million of tax supported state general obligation bonds to supportive housing; $10 million to create a new Supportive Services Fund for those in supportive housing to help "fill the gaps" for people who are not currently eligible for or must wait to access mainstream resources and explore new ways of linking housing and services; and a $4 million increase to the state appropriated Housing Trust Fund to a total of $12.6 million for capital, operating, and rental assistance, for supportive housing for the long-term homeless as well as for the housing needs of those with extremely low incomes.

In addition: $2.3 million for housing adolescents transitioning out of foster care to prevent them from becoming homeless; $400,000 for outreach and a bridge to stable housing for homeless people; $2.7 million to provide short-term transitional housing assistance to offenders who do not have stable housing when they are released from a state prison; and property tax relief for many types of subsidized rental housing. This will be particularly helpful to supportive housing financed with housing tax credits, as the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency allocates 25% of the housing tax credits it administers to supportive housing for the long-term homeless.

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS. Government partnership to end chronic homelessness was in evidence last week as Mayors of Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Jacksonville, Arkansas, gathered to unveil their new Central Arkansas Plan to End Chronic Homelessness. Joining Little Rock Mayor Dailey, North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Hayes, and Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim was United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano.

"I am pleased to join these three Mayors here today. In order to fully address the issue of chronic homelessness, we must look beyond the limits of a single city and approach it as a region. This plan puts performance, outcomes, and accountability to work for homeless people, not to serve them in place, but to insure they have a place, a place to live," stated Director Mangano.

Central Arkansas Team Care for the Homeless, a consortium of area providers which was the first entity to endorse the plan, was represented by its President Doris Williams Turner. Also joining in the event were Council Region VI Coordinator Sally Shipman, HUD Acting Field Office Director Alice Rufus, Little Rock HUD CPD Director James Slater, Little Rock City Director Joan Adcock; and Little Rock Housing and Community Development Director Andre Bernard.

Mayor Dailey also announced the members of the steering committee charged with devising strategies to implement the 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness. The Co-Chairs are Barry McDaniel of Our House, Inc., and Estella Morris of the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. Members include AR Coalition Against Domestic Violence; St. Francis House; Colliers Dickson Flake Partners; Union Rescue Mission; Little Rock Community Mental Health; Department of Health and Human Services; Salvation Army; and North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce. Other members are: Little Rock Police Department; Little Rock Workforce Investment Board; Arkansas Food Bank; Downtown Partnership; Hoover United Methodist Church; Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church; Arkansas Supportive Housing Network; and River City Ministry.

DENVER, COLORADO. More than 60 persons living for long periods of time on the streets of Denver will find a permanent home because of $997,000 in funding announced last week by United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Region VIII Director John Carson as part of the $10 million Housing for Persons who are Homeless and Addicted to Alcohol program. A dozen pilot programs in 11 cities around the country have been awarded new resources to for housing in a special initiative designed to assist homeless persons who also struggle with chronic alcoholism. Denver's new Denver Homeless Alcoholic Recovery Program will receive the award.

Director Carson joined Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper for the announcement. "The investment is targeted at chronically homeless individuals in the grips of alcoholism, and is designed to help end the often continuous cycle of incarceration, emergency room visits, and short-term shelter habitation," said Carson. "The program is an important part of HUD's commitment to end chronic homelessness in America." Mayor Hickenlooper acknowledged the leadership of the Interagency Council and HUD in creating the new resource, which will be added to the housing support already at work in Denver as one of the 11 federal HUD-HHS-VA Collaborative Initiative sites.

HUD worked closely with the United States Interagency Council for the Homeless to design this new demonstration program that targets individuals living on the streets for at least 365 days over the last five years and who also have a long-term addiction to alcohol. This initiative is supported by research that suggests as many as 150,000 persons experiencing chronic homelessness also often suffer from addiction to alcohol and tend to have the highest utilization of public facilities and services.

CONTRA COSTA, CALIFORNIA. HUD Region IX Director Richard Rainey also joined local officials last week in Contra Costa, California, to present that community's award under the new program. Contra Costa, also a Collaborative Initiative site, will house 40 homeless people with an award of $997,000 in HUD funds for Project Coming Home AAA.

WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter continues its focus on opportunities to secure resources for homeless programs under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.

WASHINGTON, DC. The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission has passed a key landmark in its work as it took final votes last week and prepared to send its report of recommendations to the President by September 8. The Commission must transmit to the President "a report containing its findings and conclusions based on a review and analysis of the Secretary's recommendations for closure and realignment." By September 23, the President shall transmit to the Commission and to the Congress, "a report containing the President's approval or disapproval of the Commission's recommendations." Commission Chairman Anthony J. Principi, former Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and Commission members completed their work late last week with a series of televised votes on individual recommendations.

Local homeless planning partners will be interested in the opportunities presented by the closure and reuse process. The Base Closure Community Redevelopment and Homeless Assistance Act (1994 Base Closure Act) addresses the use of military base property as surplus federal property on military bases. The Act requires consideration of the needs of persons experiencing homelessness during the redevelopment process.

Once the closures are announced, several early steps occur in the reuse process. Federal agencies can use the federal screening process to be the first to express interest in property over a 60 day period. During this period, a Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) must be formed in the community to address conversion of the property to other uses. As the LRA advances and conducts outreach, it will advertise to state and local governments and homeless services providers that the former base property is availability and that "notices of interest" will be received during a specified time period.

DOD maintains a web site of resources that can assist a variety of community partners in understanding and participating in the upcoming process, including accommodations to the needs of homeless people in the community. DOD's Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) is the primary source for assisting communities that are adversely impacted by such changes, including base closures or realignments, base expansions, and contract or program cancellations. To assist affected communities, OEA manages and directs the Defense Economic Adjustment Program, and coordinates the involvement of other Federal agencies. Under the 1994 Base Closure Community Redevelopment and Homeless Assistance Act, DOD, in a joint process with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), also plays a role in the community's base reuse planning process and future homeless assistance.

WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-news continues its focus on the message of leadership in ending chronic homelessness from federal, state, and city officials. This week, we focus on excerpts of the remarks of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in his announcement of the state's new initiative to end chronic homelessness.

. . . Every Californian deserves a place to call home. With this initiative my administration is committing more than $50 million in state funding to build permanent housing units where residents have an affordable place to live. This housing will also provide access to the health, employment and other support services they need to transition off the street.

. . . Our new initiative will combine the efforts of state agencies, local government, non-profits and the private sector to help those who need our help the most, the people who remain homeless for years. It is a proven approach to help the long-term homeless start a new life and say goodbye to the streets forever. Working together, with the right plan and strong leadership we can build a California where everyone has a place they can call home.

. . . This initiative will combine the efforts of state agencies, local government, non-profits and the private sector to help those who need our help the most the people who remain homeless for years. Some of them are veterans who served their country, and now have fallen on hard times. Some are mothers and children. Some are struggling with drug dependency. Many of them are suffering from mental illness. They need more than a night in a shelter or an occasional check-up. They need a long-term commitment that matches the depth of their problems.